First licenses for slots parlors getting further away
10/6/2005, 5:24 p.m. ET
By MARC LEVY
The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The state's gambling regulatory board remains deadlocked on whether slot-machine suppliers must operate in regions or statewide, further delaying the licensing of slots parlors, the board's chairman said Thursday.
The board had initially hoped to license the first slots parlors in December, but months of fruitless wrangling on the issue has forced the earliest possible licensing date back to at least April, said Tad Decker, chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
"Without this regulation, there will be no gaming in Pennsylvania," Decker said during a board meeting at the Capitol.
The owners of the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs plan to be ready to open their doors to gamblers as soon as they are licensed, and Pocono Downs and six other horse-racing tracks are virtually guaranteed a license by the state's slot-machine gambling law. However, other racetracks may begin construction on a gambling hall after licenses are issued.
The impasse also drags on the board's effort to license slots parlors as soon as possible to start bringing in the $1 billion in gambling-financed property tax cuts promised by Gov. Ed Rendell.
The board is hung up on a provision of the 14-month-old law that legalized up to 61,000 slot machines at 14 venues in Pennsylvania and created the Gaming Control Board. The law requires that slot-machine manufacturers work through an in-state supplier that will provide the machines to the licensed slots parlors.
But board members are split over whether to allow a manufacturer to contract with just one supplier, or to require them to work through multiple suppliers, each of which would be assigned to a region of the state.
Proponents of the regional-suppliers approach say it will increase opportunities for small businesses. Opponents say it is an unnecessary intrusion into the free market that could unfairly benefit politically connected entrepreneurs.
The board's voting structure has complicated matters further, because any one of the board's four legislative appointees can use their vote to reject a matter before the seven-member panel, rendering a majority useless.
"If we try to vote on that today, it would be vetoed," Decker said.
Once the board settles on the regulatory guidelines for suppliers, any business wanting to supply slot machines in Pennsylvania must fill out a lengthy application and pass a background check before getting a license. Under the law, suppliers must be licensed at least three months before the board can begin to license slots parlors.
Board members did make progress Thursday on other matters. They approved an ethics code more stringent than the state's guidelines, although a draft was not immediately available.
They also approved draft guidelines to regulate the freebies and discounts that casinos offer gamblers, such as airfare and hotel rooms.
Source: http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-31/1128618843298250.xml&storylist=penn
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